Monthly Archives: February 2010

News

Tokyo Marathon!

Course Map I  can’t believe it’s already been 10 days since my last post, heck I can’t believe we only have 2 days before February is over!  It has been a busy period recently, and I’ve been too tired to do much in the way of posting.  I wish I had more energy though – I will hear, or read, or see, or experience something and I will often think of writing about it… only to put it off for the above reasons.

I just wanted to mention quickly that the Tokyo Marathon will be taking place this Sunday.  I and 5 other folks from the office will be participating!

To be honest, I’ve done little to nothing in the way of practice this last month due to a knee injury I sustained during a 20km practice run in early January.  So I’m actually a bit worried about how I will handle 42km… my only “strategy” is going to alternate between walking and jogging, hopefully with more of the latter.

My only goal is to FINISH.  Though the 8,000,000 prize money would be something spectacular, I don’t care if I’m dead last, I don’t care if I have to limp or crawl the whole way – as long as I cross the finish line before the cutoff time, I will be satisfied.

Wish me luck!

News

All that glitters…

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A friend of mine (Michael, of emuu.net) has just made public a new venture that he’s been working on for a while now – jewelry!  Specifically, he’s gone into the diamond ring business.

I’m no authority on diamonds, but the prices look quite reasonable for Japan, and he offers various levels of customization to match one’s budget and style.   So, if there’s someone for whom the wedding bells will soon be tolling, check out Caritas.co.jp – you might find your perfect ring there! 🙂

(and no, I’m not getting any kickbacks from this post – I just like shiny things)

News

Aerial images of WTC on 9/11

Came across this link of images taken from a helicopter during the attack on the WTC buildings.  There aren’t that many (only 13) but are a reminder of the devastation on that day.  It’s hard to believe that almost 9 years have passed since then.

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Rest of images can be found here: http://www.reuters.com/article/slideshow?articleId=USTRE6195G920100210#a=1

Humor

Matrix Ping-pong

This had my brother and I in stitches!

Matrix Karate was also quite funny. 🙂

News

The world is getting scarier

Headlines such as this used to be like something out of a science fiction movie, just… not anymore.

Pentagon Looks to Breed Immortal ‘Synthetic Organisms,’ Molecular Kill-Switch Included

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Unfortunately I can understand the military’s point of view/reasoning behind research into such technologies.  Namely, if “we” don’t do it, “they” will do it, and we’ll be at their mercy.  It’s always about the race to be the one carrying the “bigger stick”.  You need to be powerful, or have something that others want,  if others are to take you seriously.  Unfortunately, this aggressive streak, while great for fostering survival and competition, makes for a bleak and frightening future if things progress as they currently are.
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Maybe they’ll find a way to eliminate the gene for war/conflict.  Now THAT might be worth it.
Experiences

A brother’s visit

Postings have been few and far between lately, largely due to laziness.  The usual excuse of being busy at work does apply though (my coworker has been away on holiday for the past couple weeks), and I came down with a cough/cold.  But there’s one more  “distraction” – my youngest brother came to visit!

He’s been here in Japan on vacation since January 29th, and will stay till the 11th of Feb (2 weeks).  Unfortunately since my coworker is out of the office I haven’t been able to take off time myself, but at least we’ve had time to hang out in the evenings and weekends.  It’s mostly been a period of eating (I’mma goin’ onna diet once he leaves!), occasionally going out, and playing PS3 (particularly while I wasn’t feeling too well).

We’ve done the usual karaoke (hoping to squeeze in one more session before he leaves), and checked out Ginza, Asakusa, Tsukiji, Roppongi, and Akihabara.  Yesterday we even went for taichi, despite winds that literally almost blew us off our feet (and it was COLD to boot)!

Places we’ve been eating at are:

Between today and Wednesday, we’re going to have at least the following as well:

We have taken some photos, but not too many, simply because it’s just so doggone cold/windy.

Putting up the links above reminds (again) that I need to work on that “places to visit” in Japan section of my blog.  Will work more on that in the coming weeks!